Biomedical Treatments: Crash Course Psychology #36

Do you know how Prozac works? Or lithium? Did you know that electroshock therapy is still a thing? There's a lot to know about biomedical treatments and how they work in tandem with psychotherapy or talk therapy. In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, Hank talks about how Biomedical Treatments have evolved and how they work with other therapies.



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Chapters:
Introduction: Does Psychotherapy Work? 00:00
Client & Clinician Perceptions 01:19
Treatment Outcome Research 2:19
Effectiveness vs. Efficacy 3:10
Which Therapies Work Best? 3:45
Biomedical Therapies 4:42
Classes of Psychotropic Drugs 5:09
"Electro-Shock" or Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) 7:38
Other Biomedical Therapies: rTMS & DBS 8:50
Lifestyle Changes 9:25
Review & Credits 10:09

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Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?

[katie]

The "lifestyle choices" is absolutely right but at the same time, kind of a paradox. Before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and sought treatment, I could barely get out of bed, let alone exercise, eat healthy, or sleep normally. When I got into therapy and started taking mood stabilizers, I was able to pull myself together, which led to positive lifestyle choices. This, in turn, positively affected my mental health but the feedback loop likely would have never started with exercise and healthy eating.

[knightsintodreams]

Will you talk about ADHD? My family doesn't believe it exists and being able to show them a video like this would help my situation out greatly

[crashcourse]

Just an FYI, annotations are having a bit of a seizure right now so they're not working. 

[LivingDG]

Interesting picture of ECT. I went through it when I had severe depression and the worst part of the treatment was that they had to stick a needle into my vein when they gave me the anesthetic. The memory loss was limited to a couple of minutes before the procedure; when I woke up, I asked when they´re going to do it. It has helped me, but in general I would be cautious of giving a severely depressed patient the choice of a treatment that may have negative outcome. I know I would have said yes to anything, even if the likelihood of me surviving it had been as low as 10 %.

[cheungy]

The fault in our stars. Really hank. I'm now sobbing

[doraaaa]

Eating healthier and doing cardio has really helped with my mild depression and extreme stress situations. I can think clearer and be more optimistic and ready to face my fears with a braver stance. It's like a cloud's been lifted over my brain, it's just helped so much! I'm more willing to go to school and be kinder to my friends and family whereas when I was depressed I was very self-consumed and irrational. :)

[jamminjamie]

I’m doing ECT treatments every other day and I felt the need to clarify that THE PATIENT IS UNDER ANESTHESIA! If “electro-shock” therapy wasn’t so misrepresented a lot more people like me would improve and may even go into remission from depression.

[jurjyocom]

Thank you for talking about ECT. Ive been doing it for a year and its changed my life

[Jay-qhuv]

Thank you for not crapping all over ECT! It has a shady past (and is portrayed terribly in the media) but it's a legitimate treatment and sometimes a last resort for a lot of people, and it /has/ worked.

I have/had treatment resistant major depression and my psychiatrist started discussing ECT as an option. I was freaked out at first but I read about it and it's very misunderstood (people still think they keep you awake for it and you're strapped down screaming!) but can be a miracle in extreme cases. Fortunately for me it never came to that but more people need to be educated on the subject and they need to understand that it really can help people who are sort of at the end of their rope.

[NicoleBGarcia]

I know Hank doesn't write the scripts but I've been binging on these older episodes lately for my New Years Resolution and this guy is just so good at speaking well

[rafaelarevalo]

I really need a Crash Course Philosophy or Sociology next, that would be so rad. 

[MeravUly]

This video couldn't have come sooner! Tomorrow I'm visiting a therapist and I'm planning to ask for a psychotropic drug prescription. This information is becoming super helpful to me. Hopefully it all goes well.

Thank you Crash Course!

[elliottbell]

I had ECT (electro-shock) and it absolutely saved my life.  It was a miracle.  Simple as that.  Yes, there have been memory problems, but they don't bother me because I would rather be alive than remember where my forks are.  If you think it might help, ASK!!!!  It's a process but totally worth it.  You can ask me on here too.  DFTBA and take care of yourself.

[anafmujeeb]

That Arrested Development reference at 2:17..Well played. Well played.

[orientalshorthaircats]

I think this "lifestyle helps" part applies only to maintaining mental health when you are relatively stable. when I'm low I tend to sleep more than 10 hours a day and you can't have it any better already. eating feels awful, so if i try to stick to vegetables I will starve - I can intake only some good old fat pizza and chocolate. and exercising feels awful, I'm exhausted before I even start and it feels like I'm only torturing myself. so chocolate and kittens are a better choice )

[NotTotallyHopeless]

Although it's true, I'm really tired of hearing about the lifestyle changes as treatment. I have a diagnosed severe anxiety disorder and take medications and everyone I know sends me articles and claims if I just eat more salmon, or exorcise more, or get a better mattress how I will magically be cured of my disorder.

[HeyItsPaige]

I take Lithium and Seroquel for Bipolar Disorder, and sometimes I will be given Paxil when I start to head into a depressive episode. Plus, I do psychotherapy with my doctor. After three years since being diagnosed, I am doing well with this treatment plan and I am glad to be where I am with my life.

[NinaMarie]

I was waiting for some sort of Nirvana reference when he talked about Lithium... At least the animated 'doctor' looked a bit like Kurt Cobain...

[lastnkow]

thanks for doing these videos hank and crew! so much easier to digest than some of the alternative sources

[tweetthang]

Thank you for explaining the treatment options in a way that makes sense!! As someone who is looking into treatment for depression and possibly anxiety it's good to know at least the basics of what I'm getting into. And I'm kind of hopeless at internet searching when it comes to stuff like this where there are so many unreliable sources and a bunch of technical jargon.